Dwindling iPod classic supplies spark refresh rumors

A number of major retailers are reporting short supplies of the iPod classic, leading some to speculate that the aging iPod model may finally see a refresh—or else be discontinued. iPodnn reports that estimated shipping times for the silver iPod classic have slipped from 24 hours to 1-3 business days on the Apple Online Store, while Best Buy’s website claims the player is backordered for 1-2 weeks, and Target has it listed as backordered for 2-4 weeks. Although the original report states that the supply issues are limited to the silver model of the iPod classic, Apple reseller J&R lists both the silver and black models as out of stock, and Amazon.com’s shipping times for the silver model are 1-3 weeks, compared to 2-4 weeks for the black model. The iPod classic was last updated in September 2009 with a modest capacity bump from 120GB to 160GB and was not mentioned at Apple’s annual iPod event for 2010, however, Toshiba recently announced a new line of hard drives in capacities up to 220GB that could be used in a next-generation model. Whether this shortage is temporary, a sign of an impending update, or a sign that Apple is discontinuing the model entirely is currently unknown.